For thousands of years, the Heart has been the paramount emblem of human emotion and wisdom; from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” to Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel”, popular media has no shortage of symbolic depictions of our bodies’ most iconic organ. In addition to its significance in literature, film, and music, the Heart is, first and foremost, our most vital organ; each day beating about 115,000 times and pumping more than 2,000 gallons of blood through over 60,000 miles of blood vessels. This Valentine’s Day 2022, join The Explorers Club as we bring together three physicians, each with their own specialty, to dive into the fascinating science of the Heart and what it takes to mend one.

This special evening will provide insight into the latest, cutting-edge advancements in heart transplant medicine. Our lecturers will share their personal experiences with tissue engineering, the current ethical dilemmas in the field, cardiac xenotransplantation, and everything in-between.

Streaming live here on explorers.org, our YouTube Channel, and our Facebook Live — Monday, February 14th at 7:00 pm ET.

RESERVATIONS

This will be an in-person lecture at Explorers Club Headquarters, and we are opening a number of tickets to guests.

In-person tickets are $10 for Members, and $25 for the General Public.

Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer and wine reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm.

To secure a reservation, please email us at [email protected], or call us at 212.628.8383. We will not be accepting walk-ins for this lecture.

To attend in person, we will require proof of vaccination. If you are making reservations, you must submit proof of vaccination to [email protected] by Noon ET on Monday, February 14th. No refunds will be available for those that don’t present adequate proof of vaccination by this deadline. Masks will be required.

Speakers

Roger Härtl, M.D.

Roger Härtl, M.D., is the Hansen-MacDonald Professor of Neurological Surgery and Director of Spinal Surgery at the Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center in New York. In addition, he is the founder and Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Center for Comprehensive Spine Care as well as the Weill Cornell Tanzania Neurosurgery Mission. He also serves as the official neurosurgeon for the New York Giants Football Team.

Dr. Härtl’s clinical interest focuses on simple and complex spine surgery for degenerative conditions, tumors and trauma as well as biological approaches for disc repair and regeneration. He is a world-renowned pioneer and leader in minimally invasive spinal surgery and computer-assisted spinal navigation surgery. He is actively involved in improving neurosurgical care in developing countries as the leader of Weill Cornell Global Health
Neurosurgery Initiative in Tanzania.

Dr. Härtl has an upcoming exhibition at the Grolier club located on 47 East 60th Street. New York. “Vittorio Sella and Wilfred Thesiger: Photographs at the Edge” from the Collection of Dr. Roger Härtl, March 3 – May 14, 2022

Yoshifumi Naka, M.D.

Dr. Yoshifumi Naka is a Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Surgical Director of Heart Failure, Heart Transplantation, and Mechanical Circulatory Support programs at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Naka is an internationally renowned heart transplant surgeon and a pioneer in mechanical assist therapy for heart failure. Under his leadership, The Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support Programs at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center have earned international recognition for their contributions in developing and testing new cardiac devices and in training cardiothoracic surgeons around the world. The heart transplant program is the largest U.S. heart transplant program by volume.

Dr. Naka completed his medical education at Osaka University Medical School (MD) and Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine (PhD). He completed his residency in general, and cardiovascular surgery at Osaka Police Hospital, an affiliated hospital of Osaka University. He did a post-doctoral research fellowship at the department of physiology, Columbia University, and a foreign clinical fellowship at the division of cardiothoracic surgery, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center. He stayed at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center for 22 years before moving to Weill Cornell Medicine.

Sayed Amjad Hussain, M.D.

Born and raised within the walled city of Peshawar, Dr. Sayed Amjad Hussain came to the United States in 1963 after graduating from Khyber Medical College in Peshawar, Pakistan. After receiving training in general surgery and cardiovascular surgery he returned to Pakistan in 1970 and served on the faculty of Khyber Medical College for three years. Currently he holds an emeritus professorship in cardio-thoracic surgery in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences and an emeritus professorship in humanities in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Toledo.

Dr. Hussain is an award-winning photographer and an internationally recognized explorer. He has explored the entire 2000 miles of Indus River in Pakistan and at its source in Tibet. Most recently, in May 2017, he was part of an expedition to explore the ancient Silk Road in China. He is also an award-winning writer who has published 20 books on subjects as varied as history, culture, religion, and the linguistic and cultural legacy of Peshawar City. Half of his published books are in Urdu and two of his Urdu books have received Abasin Literary Award. His Urdu writings were the subject of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) thesis at Hazara University in Pakistan. Currently the same university is pursuing PhD thesis on his writings about Peshwar.